Light on starting pitching, Trenton Thunder fall to New Hampshire

David Schofield/The Trenton ThunderMelky Mesa had a two-run double in the Thunder's loss to New Hampshire.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The Thunder are facing a very tough climb to get one of the two playoff spots in the Eastern League Eastern Division.

With Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances up at Triple-A and Steve Garrison on the disabled list, Trenton is attempting to get by with relievers in the starting rotation.

Chase Whitley took the ball for his first start of the season combined at Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton. It didn’t go too well. First-place New Hampshire tagged Whitley for six runs (three earned) in just two-plus innings and went on to rout the Thunder, 16-3, last night in front of 6,387 at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

With Reading (67-63) topping New Britain (65-65), the Thunder (64-65) are 2½ games behind the R-Phils for the final playoff spot. The Rock Cats, who come to town for four games this weekend, are two games behind Reading, a half-game up on the Thunder.

Travis d’Arnaud and Danny Perales went back-to-back off Whitley (3-4) in the second inning. With the bases loaded in the third, Moises Sierra hit a two-run single to chase Whitely from the game. After a pair of strikeouts by Pat Venditte, Yan Gomes reached him for a two-run double to make it 6-0. Anthony Gose added a RBI triple in the fourth.

Rob Lyerly had an RBI single while Melky Mesa hit a two-run double as part of Trenton’s three-run eighth inning.

Drew Hutchison (1-0) allowed just two hits over five innings to record the win in his Double-A debut. He walked two and fanned seven.

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The Yankees sent lefty Raul Valdes down from Triple-A to the Thunder. The Bombers had claimed the 33-year-old off waivers when St. Louis designated him for assignment earlier this month. The La Habana, Cuba native was 1-0 with no runs allowed in five innings (three games) with no walks and two strikeouts for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

With the Cardinals, Valdes was 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in seven relief appearances. This is the fourth organization for Valdes, who spent time in the minors with the Chicago Cubs and appeared in 38 Major League games with the Mets in 2010.